Mathias Holst Nicolaisen defends his PhD thesis
Mathias Holst Nicolaisen defends his PhD thesis 'Responding to the Populist Radical Right in Denmark and Sweden'.
The defence is public, and everybody is welcome.
Follow the defense online via Zoom >
The defence is scheduled for a maximum of three hours and will be held in English.
Department of Social Sciences and Business will host a small reception afterwards.
Supervisors and assessment
PhD Evaluation Committee:
- Allan Dreyer Hansen, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Denmark (chairperson)
- Karina Kosiara-Pedersen, Associate tt备用网址, Copenhagen University, Denmark
- Joost van Spanje, tt备用网址, Royal Holloway University of England, England
Supervisors:
- Supervisor: Angela Bourne, tt备用网址 (MSO), Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University
- Co-supervisor: Carina Saxlund Bischoff, Associate tt备用网址, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University
Leader of the of defence:
- Lena Brogaard, Associate tt备用网址, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University
Abstract
This dissertation contributes to the academic debate on populism and democratic defence by mapping and explaining engagement towards the populist radical right and evaluating the effects on the populist communication of these parties. The dissertation addresses shortcomings within the existing literature, which has—inspired by the tradition of militant democracy-primarily focused on responses by mainstream parties, thus largely neglecting how public authorities and civil society actors engage by opposing, supporting, or expanding strategies pursued by political parties. The dissertation maps intolerant and tolerant initiatives from public authorities, political parties, and civil society actors towards the Danish People’s Party (1997-2001; 2014-2019) and the Sweden Democrats (2014-2016; 2018-2020; 2022-2023) across their parliamentary lifespan. As part of a larger project that also maps initiatives opposing populist parties in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Spain, and Italy, the research design enables comparisons to a wider European context. More specifically, the dissertation seeks to explain patterns and trajectories in party-political responses and to examine how these affect the communication of populist radical right parties.
Denmark and Sweden are suitable cases for a comparative most-similar design that aims to trace and explain the trajectory of initiatives opposing the populist radical right. The two countries have similar political systems and cultures but differ in the history and emergence of the populist radical right in the national arena, as well as their coalition potential for the mainstream right. In Denmark, the Danish People’s Party—successor to the Progress Party—achieved parliamentary breakthrough already in the 1990s, where it was early on included by the mainstream right and became support party for the Liberal-Conservative government in 2001. Sweden, by contrast, for long represented a deviant case compared to its Nordic neighbours, as the populist radical right struggled to achieve permanent national representation. When the Sweden democrats finally entered parliament in 2010, the party was politically ostracized for nearly a decade. Findings show that political parties are the dominant actors in opposing the populist radical right in Denmark and Sweden. Despite different points of departure, the tale of opposition to the populist radical right in Denmark and Sweden is a tale of normalization; both the Danish People’s Party and the Sweden Democrats have undergone a trajectory toward inclusion and recognition. I argue that government ambitions ultimately outweigh the reputation of these parties.
When mainstream right parties are faced with the choice of defending liberal democratic principles or cooperating with populist radical right parties to enter office, these parties ultimately choose an inclusive approach. Although political parties continue to engage in democratic defence, disagreements with the populist radical right are handled within the political arena rather than excluding it from parliamentary processes. The dissertation also shows that mainstream parties’ interaction with the populist radical right affects the populist communication of the latter. Most significantly, the inclusion of previously ostracized parties in parliamentary processes can foster their adherence to the traditional left-right axis while also tempering their disregard for the established political ‘power cartel’.
The dissertation will be available for reading at the Roskilde University Library before the defence (on-site use). The dissertation will also be available at the defence.